1. The Field of the Invention
The embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to optical transceivers. More specifically, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to semiconductor-based optical transceivers that do not use a printed circuit board (PCB) for interconnections between components of the optical transceiver.
2. The Relevant Technology
Computing and networking technology have transformed our world. As the amount of information communicated over networks has increased, high speed transmission has become ever more critical. Many high speed data transmission networks rely on optical transceivers and similar devices for facilitating transmission and reception of digital data embodied in the form of optical signals over optical fibers. Optical networks are thus found in a wide variety of high speed applications ranging from as modest as a small Local Area Network (LAN) to as grandiose as the backbone of the Internet.
Typically, data transmission in such networks is implemented by way of an optical transmitter (also referred to as an electro-optic transducer), such as a laser or Light Emitting Diode (LED). The electro-optic transducer emits light when current is passed there through, the intensity of the emitted light being a function of the current magnitude. Data reception is generally implemented by way of an optical receiver (also referred to as an optoelectronic transducer), an example of which is a photodiode. The optoelectronic transducer receives light and generates a current, the magnitude of the generated current being a function of the intensity of the received light.
Various other components are also employed by the optical transceiver to aid in the control of the optical transmit and receive components, as well as the processing of various data and other signals. For example, such optical transceivers typically include a driver (e.g., referred to as a “laser driver” when used to drive a laser signal) configured to control the operation of the optical transmitter in response to various control inputs. The optical transceiver may also include a sensing photodiode for monitoring the output of the optical transmitter.
The optical transceiver also generally includes an amplifier (e.g., often referred to as a “post-amplifier”) configured to perform various operations with respect to certain parameters of a data signal received by the optical receiver. A TransImpedance Amplifier (TIA) may be implemented to amplify signals received from the optical receiver. A controller circuit (hereinafter referred to as the “controller”) controls the operation of the laser driver and post amplifier.
The various components of the optical transceiver are often implemented as one or more integrated circuits or discrete components that are interconnected using a PCB. The use of the PCB to interconnect the various ICs and discrete components, however, is often expensive and time consuming during manufacture of the transceiver as each IC or component must be individually mounted to the PCB.
In addition, individual optical transceivers are often enclosed in some type of encasing or packaging for protection. The use of a PCB board to interconnect the ICs and other components of the optical transceiver, however, often makes it so that the packaging or encasing of the transceiver may potentially be larger, which may cause space problems in a host computing system coupled to the optical transceivers.